Black Blood
by Midnightz Skye
Summary: AU fem Naru. After learning that their friend Namikaze Sora is a vampire, Nara Shikamaru and his friends are in a dilemma. As they travelled around to eradicate the threat of vampires, they soon learned that the truth is more than meets the eye. ShikaXNar
1. Namikaze Sora

_Summary:_

_AU fem Naru. After learning that their friend Namikaze Sora is a vampire, a being that the Eriel Church was fighting against, Nara Shikamaru and his friends are in a dilemma. As they travelled around to eradicate the threat of vampires, they soon learned the true history and motives behind the vampires and found out that the truth is more than meets the eye._

This is a rewritten version of _Black Blood _that I've posted on my old account. This is an AU story, which means that it takes place in an alternate universe story and this means that no ninjas in this story and since there are no ninjas, this means that there are no Jinchuurikis in this story as well. This is inspired by the NDS game Luminous Arc.

* * *

**Chapter One: Namikaze Sora**

_More than a thousand years ago, a legendary battle was waged between God and the creatures of the night – the vampires – beings of darkness who only hungers and thirsts for fresh blood in order to strengthen their powers and another species of beings that called themselves Diviners – spirit-like creatures who wield godly-like powers._

_A disagreement broke out between the vampires and the Diviners and a war broke out. In a bid to stop them from destroying the world, God stepped forward to stop them. A huge battle was waged between the vampires, Diviners and God Himself. _

_In the end, however, God was victorious and the vampires and Diviners were pushed backwards. The vampires were furious and swore revenge on God and mankind in the future and fled. As a result of the battle, God was forced into a slumber until the time comes for him to be awakened and for the world to prosper once more._

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A sixteen-year-old blonde stood on the top of a cliff overlooking the small village below her. It was currently night-time and the streets of the village were quiet.

The blonde was currently wearing a white open-collared shirt with sleeves that reaches down to her elbows and a pair of black pants with black combat boots and black fingerless gloves with a dark cloak tied around her shoulders.

This girl's name was Namikaze Sora.

Sora blew a wisp of her hair out of her eyes and looked down onto the village below her once more. "So it begins..." she muttered to herself before leaping off the cliff and vanishing in a flash of silver light.

The only evidence that she was ever present on the cliff was the tell-tale signs of ice and snow clinging to the cliff and the grass growing atop the cliff.

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_Eve House; 09:00am:_

"HIYYAAAHHH!"

The loud screech from Inuzuka Kiba rang throughout the garden of Eve House as he dodged another blow from Akimichi Chouji, with their friends – Haruno Sakura, Yamanaka Ino and Nara Shikamaru watching them, all three sitting on the front steps of Eve House.

Eve House was an orphanage opened by the Eriel Church – an organisation dedicated to fighting against the creatures of the night – namely, the vampires and the monsters of the land of Eriel. The five teenagers were all orphaned at a very young age, many of them not even old enough to remember their parents when they were brought to the Church. Eve House was where they had grew up and where a member of the Eriel Church – one of the best arch mages and swordsmen in the world – had trained them and brought them up to be of service to the Church in ridding the world of vampires and monsters.

Vampires were legendary immortal beings, said to be creatures of the night and who hungers and thirsts after blood and they were each master rune casters – powerful magic users. Also, vampires were all said to be extremely good-looking and the aura from them are unlike ordinary humans.

The five teenagers of Eve House had grown up with each other and were almost like family. Sakura and Ino are trained as healers in battle whilst the boys – Kiba, Chouji and Shikamaru were mainly trained in combat, though Shikamaru – their unofficial leader – was too lazy to even move a finger, but his strategical abilities far surpassed everyone else.

Sakura sighed and shook her head. "Both of you, stop this!" she ordered. "Kimimaro wouldn't be happy if he came back and found you injured _again."_

"Come on, Sakura, this is training!" said Kiba and Chouji put up one hand.

"Huff huff, I think I agree with Sakura here, Kiba," said Chouji through huffs and pants. "I need time out."

"Well, seems like you are all training hard," said a voice and all five teenagers turned around to see a silver-haired man decked in warrior garb standing before them. "I'm back from my visit to the Capital. I hope that you've been training hard."

"Of course we have!" said Kiba proudly.

"Anyway, we have an assignment," said Kimimaro. "A village west of here has been getting attacked by a vampire and we are under strict orders to exterminate the vampire."

"A vampire?" Sakura sounded worried. "Are we ready for it yet?"

"Course we are," said Kiba proudly. "That's what we've all trained for, didn't we?"

"That's right," said Kimimaro with some pride in them. "Now, come on. Sakura, you stay here. I need at least one person here in case someone from the Church arrives. Ino is a good enough healer as well, so you can stay if you like."

"Okay," said Sakura with a shy smile. "Be careful, okay?"

"We will," said Ino, waving at her best friend. "We'll be back in no time, Sakura!"

**

* * *

**_Eve House, 06:00pm:_

"But man...that vampire wasn't so difficult, was he?" said Kiba, sounding disappointed as the group trudged their way back to Eve House. "I was expecting something more. I've heard that vampires are masters over elemental magic."

"You are so troublesome, Kiba," groaned Shikamaru. "Don't be so overconfident over your own abilities. Vampires are a lot stronger than you think."

"He's right, Kiba," said Kimimaro.

"Kimimaro?" questioned Ino and Kimimaro turned towards the blonde. "Are humans allowed to use rune magic? I only ever see a handful – like myself and Sakura who are healers and you who is an arch mage."

"Well, it's both yes and no," said Kimimaro. "It's defying the laws of nature...rune magic. All arch mages like myself uses our weapons as a medium for our magic. Healing magic is the only type of magic allowed by the Church. Rune magic can only be used by vampires."

"Welcome back, everyone," said Sakura who had came to greet them as they came towards Eve House. "Kimimaro, the helper that the Church had sent is here."

A girl dressed in normal civilian clothing stepped out from behind Sakura. "Namikaze Sora," she said. "Pleased to meet you."

"Uh...likewise," said Kiba, scratching his head.

"Please remember to clean your weapons," said Sora, taking one look at the bloodstained sword that Kiba had before heading back into the house. "Dinner will be ready in a few moments."

"Damn, what's her problem?" growled Kiba, not liking the fact that a girl had talked down to him like this. "We've barely met her for ten minutes!"

"Maybe she's just shy?" suggested Ino only to invite a look from Kiba. "Oh, come on, Kiba! What does it really matter? Come on, I'm hungry and I know the rest are too. Sakura, how about I tell you all about the battle later?"

"That'll be great!" said Sakura as Ino took her by the arm and lead her inside, all the while talking about the battle.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Later that Night:_

"Man, I can't sleep!" groaned Shikamaru as he kicked off his bedcovers and sat up on the bed, listening to the light gentle snores from Kiba and the loud heavy ones from Chouji who is a heavy sleeper. It was a warm and humid night that day and he wondered how his two dorm-mates can even sleep with all the bedcovers over them.

Shikamaru then decided to venture out of the house, deciding that some fresh air will probably do him some good. The stars were plentiful in the night sky that day and for a moment or two, Shikamaru lost himself in his thoughts as he looked at the night sky.

"What are you doing?"

Shikamaru nearly jumped out of his skin as he heard a voice so close to his ear and turned to see Sora beside him, looking at him with a frown on her face. "Star gazing," answered the lazy genius. "I can't sleep and I thought that some fresh air will do me good. What about you?"

"I can't sleep as well," said Sora before sitting down on the steps beside Shikamaru. "It's too quiet here. I'm not used to it."

"Where were you from?"

"I don't know," said Sora quickly. "I just-"

She was cut off as a mournful howl sounded in the distance and both teenagers stood up just then, looking towards the right side as a three-headed wolf bounded towards them, rows of sharp teeth visible beneath the mouths of its three heads.

"A monster?" Shikamaru nearly spluttered in shock. "How did a monster get here?"

Sora glared at Shikamaru. "You didn't clean your weapons, did you?" she accused him and the lazy genius gulped. "I thought so. Monsters are attracted by the scent of monster blood, that's why you have to clean your weapons properly after every fight!"

"Ahhhh! Come on, save the lectures for later!" groaned Shikamaru, taking his crossbow from his back and fixing an arrow before aiming it at the monster. "And stay behind me! I'll take care of this!"

But the monster seemed to be too fast for him especially since it always leapt out of the way every time Shikamaru fired an arrow at him and Sora groaned.

"Man, you're hopeless!" The girl groaned and Shikamaru blushed red at seeming so 'useless' in front of a girl. "I'll deal with this!"

There was a flash of light before Sora's clothes changed to a white open-collared shirt with sleeves that reaches down to her elbows and a pair of black pants with black combat boots and black fingerless gloves with a dark cloak tied around her shoulders.

The look in Sora's eyes had changed as well – to more ruthless, more serious-looking and a silver and dark blue hilt slipped out from the holster fastened on Sora's right arm before she focused some spirit energy to the hilt and a shimmering baby blue blade formed from the hilt – about the length of a short sword.

"Sora?!"

"Just stay behind me!"

Sora pointed the blade of her sword at the wolf and shouted, "Diamond Dust!"

Ice immediately coated the grounds and the wolf, encasing said wolf into a cube of ice before Sora snapped her fingers and the ice shattered, killing the monster instantly. Sora sighed before dismissing the blade which reverted back to its hilt and slipped her weapon back into her holster.

"That was some incredible...ma...gic..." Shikamaru trailed off as he realised immediately what Sora had just used and pointed his crossbow at her. "Magic?! You're a vampire, aren't you?"

Sora snorted. "About time one of you noticed," she said. "That's right, I'm a vampire. Are you going to kill me?"

"Of course! You vampires are evil! Your kind should be eradicated straight from the face of the earth!"

"Okay then. Then please answer me this. In what way have I hurt you or any humans for that matter?"

"Erm...I..."

"You can't answer me, can you?" snorted Sora. "You humans are all the same; narrow-minded and only thinking of yourselves. I saved your life today, so keep your mouth shut about my identity to the others! I'm not here to hurt any humans; I could care less if the lot of you just dropped dead. I'm here on a mission. And I won't hurt you if you don't attack me."

"Mission?"

"Yes, Nara. A mission," said Sora irritably. "And clean those weapons of yours properly this time." Another flash of light appeared and Sora was soon wearing her civilian clothes. "I'm off to bed!"


	2. Exposure

**Chapter Two: Exposure**

Shikamaru frowned as he cleaned his arrows with a damp cloth, cleaning the monster blood and pieces off his weapon. Around him, the others at the Eve Garden were doing the same thing, with Sakura tending to Kiba's wounds with the boy yelling in pain every few seconds which invited a smack from Sakura.

They had just been on another assignment to a town west of Eve Garden where apparently, a vampire had gotten hold of one of the elemental gems in Eriel – the water gem. There were several of those elemental gems – no one knows how many it was – and it was said that those gems could cause the world's destruction. The fight was unexpectedly easy for a vampire with the water elemental gem and Sora had came along with them the minute that Kimimaro had mentioned that there's a vampire.

True to his word, Shikamaru hadn't told anyone about Sora being a vampire, but even he was having his doubts about Sora being an evil creature of the night who feeds on human blood. She doesn't seem at all like the vampires that the Church had always taught them to hate and kill. Sora had already been here for a week and if Shikamaru didn't know that she's a vampire, he wouldn't know it. Sure, the blonde was extremely good-looking – all vampires are good-looking – with golden blonde hair which just reaches down to her shoulders and cerulean blue eyes bluer than the sky...

"What's wrong, Shikamaru?" asked Kimimaro with concern, seeing the look on the face of the unofficial leader of the teenagers. "Are you hurt somewhere?"

"Nothing," mumbled Shikamaru as all eyes of everyone present were turned onto him. The lazy genius was sitting at the doorway of the Eve Garden orphanage, with the door wide opened and the others were all lazing around in the sitting room. "It's just...Kimimaro...was that lady really a vampire?"

"Shikamaru...what are you saying?"

Kimimaro put up a hand to silence Chouji and turned to Shikamaru. "Shikamaru, I want you to understand this: all vampires are tricksters. They are masters in illusions and manipulating humans' hearts and minds. This is no mistake, Shikamaru, all vampires are _evil. _And it's our job as members of the Church to rid the world of that evil."

Shikamaru nodded slowly, still feeling doubt in him before Sakura got up from where she'd been sitting. "Alright, everyone. Time for bed. It's been a long night."

"That's right," said Kimimaro, getting up. "I'm to take you to the Capital tomorrow. The Grand Cardinal wants to see for himself how the training that you've been given are going so far." Kimimaro then glanced at Shikamaru. "Shikamaru, can you go and find Sora? That girl's been unnaturally quiet ever since we'd killed that vampire and those monsters that the vampire was controlling. I wonder if she's been shocked by that..."

"I understand," said Shikamaru before walking out of the orphanage and it didn't take him long to find the blonde especially since she's leaning against the stile, kneeling on the grass with her head propped up by her elbows as she watched the night sky, especially the stars. The stars looked like diamonds glittering and shining in the sky.

"If you're going to say that to them, it's obvious that they're going to reprimand you," said Sora suddenly as Shikamaru walked up to her, propping his elbows atop the stile as well, watching the stars.

Shikamaru blinked at the girl. "You heard? How? Eve Garden is some distance away from here."

Sora snorted. "I'm not normal, Shikamaru. You know this. All of my kind had enhanced senses. Still think that vampires are all evil?"

"...I don't know," admitted Shikamaru before laying his head down on his elbows and glancing at Sora out of the corner of his eye. "Was that lady back there...really a vampire?"

Sora closed her eyes. "She's not," she muttered. "She's not a vampire."

"Not a vampire?" Shikamaru shot up, looking at Sora with a shocked look. "Then...we killed an innocent-"

"She's not a vampire, but she's not innocent either," said Sora, interrupting whatever Shikamaru was saying. "She's merely a normal human who had gotten her hands on the Water Elemental Gem. Those elemental gems give power – vampire, human or monster – and if you lose control of that gem, you lose control of your senses and the elemental ends up controlling _you._ That's what happened to that human. That human wasn't the elemental's _true_ master, that's why she ended up being controlled by the water elemental."

Sora then lay her head down on her elbows like Shikamaru, looking at the stars. "Vampires lived relatively long lives," she muttered. "But even we will die someday. The Great Disaster – the war between your god and the vampires – was before my time. Nearly one thousand years ago. My parents were just mere kids then, but they remembered it. They told me about it. Before the Great Disaster, monsters and humans lived in peace with each other. But after the war, monsters became the enemies of mankind and wild ones – those without a master – can only come out at night."

"Everything begins with war," muttered Shikamaru. "I hate war and fighting."

Sora laughed bitterly. "Don't everyone? But you don't have a choice. As long as there are humans, there will always be war and fighting."

"Is your mission..." Shikamaru bit his lower lip nervously, looking at Sora. "Is your mission here to collect the elementals from the Church?"

"No," said Sora. "It's something else."

"What is?"

"It's none of your business," said Sora. "Come on, let's go back. We still have to go to the Capital tomorrow, don't we?"

"Huh...? Yeah."

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_Oto City, Capital City of Eriel:_

Oto City, the capital of the land of Eriel was lively, filled with many people and the marketplace was packed with vendors and women and children who were chattering away. Every now and then, the occasional soldier from the Church could be seen marching past.

"Oto sure is lively!" said Sakura, smiling as she watched the surroundings.

"It sure is," said Kimimaro. "It's the headquarters of the Eriel Church and the capital city. Oh! Sir Danzo is here! Captain of the military side of the Eriel Church!"

A man with bandages covering one eye with a metal arm in black and silver armour with the Church's crest adorned on his armour came up to Kimimaro and his group just then. "Ah! Master Kaguya, it's a pleasure," said Danzo with a fake smile. "Have you heard? The Veriel Guards have been eliminated...down by Waterfall Valley."

"The...Veriel Guards?!" Kimimaro gaped at Danzo. "That can't be! They're the best soldiers for miles around! How could they be eliminated so easily?!"

"They were attacked by a vampire and the Death Elemental was stolen from Waterfall Valley."

"The...Death Elemental? The one with the power to revive the dead?"

"That's right," said Danzo. "Some of our researchers are researching the Death Elemental down at Waterfall Valley and the vampire showed up and killed everyone there and blew up the labs at Waterfall Valley. Waterfall Valley is now a desolate wasteland." Danzo then noticed the group behind Kimimaro. "These must be your students."

"That's right," said Kimimaro. "They are the children from the Eve Garden. I've brought them here to show His Eminence, the Grand Cardinal himself the skills and abilities that they're taught in order to rid Eriel of the threat and dangers of the vampires."

"Ah, yes," said Danzo with a cold smirk. "The vampires are a threat to Eriel and the planet as a whole and _must _be eliminated. That's what the Eve Garden children are for. The vampires are evil creatures of the night and must be-"

"Alright! That's it!" snapped Sora and everyone present turned towards the blonde.

Shikamaru gulped from next to her. Sora and himself had been standing behind everyone ever since they had first stepped into Oto and he knew why as well. The Church had been the mortal enemies of the vampires for centuries and he knew for a fact that everyone in the Church hated vampires. When Sir Danzo had first started sprouting all the nonsense about the vampires and the Church, he had felt Sora's fury growing until she had finally snapped.

"Just what have the vampires done to you?!" snapped Sora.

"Sora!"

"I don't give a damn if you're the captain of the soldiers or the captain of the wusses-"

"Wusses?!" Danzo nearly choked in fury and rage. _"How dare you?!"_

"-and I do not give a damn if you're ranked higher than the King himself! Just what have the vampires even done to you in the first place? Have they bitten you? Have they even _attacked _you? What gives you the right to pass judgement on them without even meeting them, Mr Lord of the Wusses?! Hmph!"

And Sora stomped off with the entire group blinking and staring at the back of the angry girl.

"L-Lord of the Wusses?!" Danzo looked as if he was suffering from a heart attack. "Why, you-"

"Sir Danzo, the Grand Cardinal had asked for you!" A random soldier came up just then.

"What? Gah. Fine!" Danzo grumbled. "This isn't over yet, Kaguya. The Grand Cardinal will hear about it and..."

Danzo's voice trailed off in the distance and the soldier had to practically drag the captain with him to the Church and moments later, everyone blinked with confusion, save for Shikamaru.

"Okay...what's that all about back there?" asked Chouji. "I've never seen Sora that mad before."

"Yeah," agreed Sakura. "It was like she was on the vampires' side."

"I'll go and get her!" said Shikamaru quickly before running off in the direction that Sora took.

Kiba gave a whistle just then and everyone turned to him only to look in the direction that he was looking. The teen was looking at a beautiful blonde who was wearing some very...choice clothing. Her clothes consisted of a black sports bra beneath a black netted shirt and a dark red high collared coat left opened with black trims on the collar with a black leather skirt which barely reaches to her knees and a pair of black boots which reaches up to her calves and a kusari-gama was placed in the sash around her waist. A silver chain with a square glass case with a black spiral symbol in it was hung around her neck and Shikamaru remembered Sora wearing a similar one to what the girl's wearing, only that Sora's was a dark blue spiral symbol.

Shikamaru and Sora returned just then and Sora's eyes widened as she saw the girl that Kiba is looking at. "That's..."

"Who's that hot babe?" asked Kiba with a lecherous grin and the 'babe' in question noticed and looked in their direction. "Hey, babe." Kiba said with a grin. "What's your name and what are you doing here?"

"Me?" said the girl with a cold smirk before removing the kusari-gama from around her waist. "My name is Yugito. Nii Yugito..." A bright flash of light surrounded her before the kusari-gama in her hands had lightning running through it, cackling sounds coming from it and Yugito smirked before pointing the scythe part at Kiba. "Also known as the Death Caster! Summoner and controller of the dead!"

"_A vampire?!" _Chouji nearly shouted and all the civilians near them screamed and ran into the nearest building.

"That's right..." said Yugito in a sing-song voice. "I've heard that you have the Water Elemental. Humans have no use for it. Hand it over."

"Not on your life!" said Ino fiercely. "We will never give a vampire the Water Elemental!"

"Then I'll just take it by force then-"

"Yugito, that's enough!" said Sora and stepped out, her eyes blazing with anger at Yugito.

The older blonde vampire raised an eyebrow at seeing Sora and smirked. "Well well, if it isn't Sora... What are you doing here?"

"That's my question," said Sora. "I've heard from Gaara that you went missing six months ago. And the attack on the Veriel Guards at Waterfall Valley...let me guess..."

"That's right! It's all me!" said Yugito in a sing-song voice. "I've got the Death Elemental in my hands now! _I'll _stop their god myself!"

"You're doing this the wrong way, Yugito!" snapped Sora. "It's only going to bring more pain and suffering!"

"The way that you and the others are using is too slow!" snapped Yugito. "If we do it the way that you guys are insisting on using, _he _will be revived before we can say 'vampire'! Now, get out of my way! I'm taking the Water Elemental!"

"Argh!"

Sora let out a cry as she was sent flying backwards by the chain part of Yugito's kusari-gama.

"Sora!" cried out Shikamaru, his crossbow in his hands.

"Shikamaru! Get ready for battle!" snapped Ino, her crossbow in her hands as well, with the others taking their weapons.

"Kaguya! There you are!" Danzo popped out from out of nowhere, snarling fiercely. "You're going to answer what that rude girl- eh? Who's that young lady with that bold clothing?"

"Sir Danzo! Be careful!" said Kimimaro, his sword in his hands. "That's a vampire!"

"A-A _vampire?!"_

"Please get to the Church and make sure that Grand Cardinal Orochimaru is safe!"

"Er...right!"

"Yugito! Stop it!" Sora yelled as she stood up, holding the wall for support. "You're not doing yourself _and_ our kind any favours by attacking the humans!"

"Shut up, Sora!" snapped Yugito. "If it can get the elementals out of their hands, then I'll gladly do it! The elementals are too dangerous to be left in a human's hands! You know this, Sora! Only the vampires can wield it properly and to its full potential! Now, shut it and get out of my way!"

Her kusari-gama came flying out, heading straight towards Sora, much to everyone's horror.

"Sora!"

There was a clang of metal on metal as Shikamaru appeared in front of Sora, a short sword in his hands, deflecting the kusari-gama and panting heavily. The lazy genius then pointed his crossbow at Yugito. "You leave Sora alone!"

And to everyone's surprise, a bright silver light then surrounded Shikamaru, much to Sora and everyone's utmost surprise.

"W-What?"

"Shikamaru...is glowing?" Chouji muttered.

Sora's eyes were wide with shock and surprise as she stared at Shikamaru and just then, an image of a figure with light chestnut-brown hair overlapped with Shikamaru's before disappearing and Sora knew that it was no trick of the light. She knew what Shikamaru is now.

"Diviner..." Sora muttered. "I'd never imagined...that I'll find you in a place like this..."

"What?" Yugito muttered, eyes as wide as saucers to see the light around Shikamaru before she smirked. "So you've found your Diviner, have you, Sora? I've heard that's why you'd left the village. To find your Diviner in order to defeat _him. _It's too bad then...I'll make him _mine!"_

"Sorry, vampire!" Kimimaro deflected the kusari-gama of Yugito's. "You don't touch my students when I'm around!"

Yugito took a quick glance around and narrowed her eyes as she sensed the presences of several humans approaching them – soldiers – and scowled. "I'll admit defeat this time," she said. "But I'm taking this before I go."

And she waved a strange rock-like object at them, with a light blue symbol etched in the middle of it, glowing slightly.

"That's-"

"The Water Elemental!" Ino nearly shouted.

"See you again!" said Yugito with a smirk before she vanished in a flash of light.

"Yugito! Wait!"

"Sora, answer me this!" said Kimimaro sternly. "Are you a vampire?"

"Yeah. So what?" asked Sora as she was surrounded by a flash of light before her clothes transformed. She was now wearing a white sleeveless shirt with a sleeveless light blue zip-up vest left half-unzipped and a pair of black pants which reaches down to her calves with black combat boots and black fingerless gloves with two pouches on either side of her waist. A black denim belt was wound around her waist, the rest trailing down her side. A silver chain with a square glass case with a dark blue spiral symbol in it was also hung around her neck. "I'm a vampire. I'm not afraid to admit it. I'm the Dawn Caster."

"Did you enter the Church in order to spy on us?"

"No," said Sora, waving a hand about. "I could care less if the lot of you just dropped dead."

"What are the vampires' motives? What is your kind planning?"

"Our plan? We are trying to...defeat your god."

"You...vampire!"

CLANG!

Kimimaro's sword clashed just then with a pure white blade wielded by a young man with silver gravity defying hair, standing in between Sora and Kimimaro, fixing Kimimaro with a one-eyed cold glare, his other eye covered by a strip of bandage. The man was wearing a black T-shirt with a black high-collared coat with red trims to the collar with the top two buttons left undone with a pair of black pants and black combat boots. A pair of black fingerless gloves were strapped on his hands and he had the same chain that Sora was wearing around her neck, only that his spiral was silver in colour.

Two others – a male and a female around the man's age – appeared next to him. The male was wearing a similar fashion to the first man, with black spiky hair with a pair of goggles perched on his head with onyx eyes and he had a runeblade strapped on his back. The young woman was wearing a black sleeveless shirt with a pure-white short-sleeved zip-up vest over it and a silver chain with a square glass case with a silver spiral symbol in it was hung around her neck and a pair of black pants and black combat boots, with two pouches hung around her waist and a crossbow hanging by a strap on her back. A black denim belt was also wound around her waist, the rest of it trailing down her side, and she had brown hair and honey-brown eyes which was currently boring holes into Kimimaro.

The silver-haired man snarled as the blade that he's holding lengthened – much to Kimimaro's shock – and the man applied more strength on his blade before Kimimaro was sent backwards a few feet – much to everyone's shock.

"Don't you dare touch the princess with your filthy hands, _humans!" _The silver-haired man snarled before the silver blade of his sword retracted and he placed the hilt into the belt by his side.

"Kakashi? Rin? Obito? What are you guys doing here?"

"_P-P-Princess?!" _Kiba stuttered.

"Sora, the Lord and the Lady have both asked for your return," said Rin. "You've done more than enough in trying to gather information about their god and finding your Diviner."

"I know," said Sora. "Let's go, Obito."

Obito nodded before standing in front of her only to hear a low growl and to see Kimimaro in front of them once more, his sword in his hands. Kakashi narrowed his eyes and held out one arm in front of Sora and Obito. "Obito, take the Princess and go! Rin and I will draw some time!"

"Wait!"

"Take one more step forwards and I'll blast your head off!" snarled Rin, holding out one hand, the palm facing Kimimaro and a red crimson orb was forming in the palm of her hand. "We're the personal bodyguards of the Princess – the heiress to the royal clan of the vampire society and we will not allow any harm to befall her."

"Obito! Take the Princess and go!" shouted Kakashi.

Obito nodded before he grabbed Sora's shoulder and both vanished in a flash of silver light.

"You're not getting away!" snarled Kimimaro and Rin smirked before she aimed the red orb forming in her hand straight at Kimimaro and a blast of red light hit Kimimaro straight on, sending him through three walls and both remaining vampires took the chance to teleport away in a flash of silver light.

Shikamaru was in complete shock as he stared at the spot where Sora was at. Her last words to him – unheard by everyone else – ringing in his head.

'_You're __**my**__ Diviner, Shika. Your life is mine. I'll be back for you one day.'_

Shikamaru frowned as he thought back to what she said. _'But what the hell is a Diviner?'_


	3. Dilemma

**Chapter Three: Dilemma**

Things were pretty hectic after Sora and the three vampires made an appearance in the middle of the capital city. Kimimaro was sent by the Grand Cardinal himself for a long-term mission with some of the other high class exorcists and knights from the Church whilst Shikamaru and the rest were sent to another town – Leaf City – a town which could rival with the capital city in terms of the population and size.

Some of the other orphans who had grown up with Shikamaru and the rest in Eve Garden had been sent to help Shikamaru and the others with their jobs of locating the elemental gems and hunting down the vampires and demons. Those few orphans were Aburame Shino, Kinzoku Tenten and Rock Lee – the former two being information specialists and the last was a rather eccentric fellow who had an unhealthy interest in Sakura herself.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Cat's Eye; Leaf City:_

Cat's Eye is a relatively popular bar in Leaf City and every night, the bar would be filled with most of the bounty hunters or agents of the Eriel Church stationed at the town – like Nara Shikamaru and his friends. The bar was a relatively large place, being two storeys high and selling a wide variety of beverages and food.

And that was where Nara Shikamaru and his friends found themselves on Thursday night. The bar was relatively empty by then as it was close to closure soon and the owner of the bar – one Umino Iruka – was cleaning glasses.

"Tough day?" asked Iruka sympathetically as he watched Sakura tend to Kiba's wounds.

"Yeah. Monsters have been attacking recently," said Shikamaru as he took a sip of the root beer that Iruka had given him. "We're being run ragged trying to defend the town as it is and we aren't getting anywhere with the mission that the Church had given us."

"But seriously..." said Tenten as she was tending to the injuries that Lee had suffered. "Don't you think that the monsters seemed to be stronger during the night? I've fought monsters before, but they always seemed to be stronger during the night."

"Don't you know?"

Everyone turned to two girls sitting two seats away from them at the bar counter. Both were dressed in dark-coloured outfits with black cloaks on. One had dark blue hair with the strangest eyes whilst the other was a black-haired female.

"Who are you?" asked Kiba, blinking at them.

"I'm Haku," said the black-haired female. "This is Hinata. We're bounty hunters."

"Bounty hunters?" asked Chouji, blinking stupidly at them.

Hinata sighed. "The only reason why bounty hunters existed is because people like you aren't doing your job properly."

Before Kiba could snap back a retort at that, Shikamaru grabbed his shoulder, silencing him and the lazy genius turned back towards the two girls. "A while ago...what do you mean by that?"

Haku turned to Shikamaru. "You're the leader of the group, I take?" she asked and Shikamaru nodded. "Hinata and myself have been in the bounty hunter line for a long time and we knew more about the monsters and demons than anyone else. As you know, monsters and demons are classified by rank – A, B, C or D. There are some monsters that attack people during the daytime, but that's only a handful of them. Do you know why?"

They shook their heads.

"That's because they're at their weakest during the daytime," said Hinata, shaking her glass, causing the ice cubes in it to rattle slightly. "The moon is the source of the monsters and the demons' power. Vampires could come out during the day or the night – it's really up to them as the moon isn't the source of their power. During the full moon, the monsters and the demons are at their strongest, and they naturally weaker when it becomes the new moon. Bounty hunters who are in this line long knew about this since it makes common sense if you think about it."

Shikamaru nodded dumbly.

"I'm about to close up soon," said Iruka suddenly. "So you kids better get moving."

Shikamaru nodded before sliding off his stool and turned to his friends. "Come on, let's go."

The group soon left the bar and Konohamaru – someone whom helps Iruka with his bar locked the entrance of the bar with a loud click. Silence fell upon the bar before Iruka turned to the two girls before him with a sigh.

"The usual?"

Hinata nodded before moving the glass in her hand away and said glass hit the edge of the counter before it stopped, allowing Iruka to pick up the glass and poured the contents of the glass away in the sink before filling both Hinata and Haku's glasses with some crimson red liquid and giving it to them.

Konohamaru soon joined them at the counter in a few moments and Iruka handed him another glass of the crimson red liquid and Konohamaru – a teen of about thirteen or fourteen savoured it with delight. "Nothing beats the drinks that you made, Iruka!" said Konohamaru. "Pity that you have to close the bar at the village though to help the rest of them back home in this city so that you can collect information."

"Well, the Princess asked me to and I couldn't say no to her," said Iruka sheepishly, scratching the scar across his nose.

Hinata snorted with laughter and she turned towards Iruka, some of the liquid trailing down from the corners of her lips and she rubbed it away with the back of her hand. "You know that she will get mad if she hears you address her like that again. She doesn't mind if people that she doesn't know well enough addresses her as the Princess, but for her childhood friends and people that she grew up with in the village, she gets mad if we don't address her by name."

"Enough about that," said Iruka, turning towards the two girls. "So...what brings the Sky Caster and the Ice Caster here today?"

"Sora sent us here," said Haku. "She's worried and the Prince as well as the Lord and the Lady are too. The Church's movements are getting strange as of late and the monsters and demons are too. Humans are no match for them now since those monsters ranked above B-rank is nearly impossible to take down now unless you use magic."

Iruka 'hmmed'. "I've heard about it from some of the bounty hunters recently," he said. "One of them came from the capital city recently and he mentioned that there were some rumours around that the Church is conducting some experiments concerning rune magic. At any rate...seems like 'he' is about to be awakened."

All four in the bar turned around just then and Hinata narrowed her eyes, looking out of the small window located high on the wall of the bar as she scowled and slid off her stool. "Come on, Haku," she said. "Business calls."

Haku nodded and turned towards Iruka. "Put it on our tab. We'll pay you back the next time we come," she said before both herself and Hinata took the last mouthfuls of their drinks and left in a flurry of wind and ice.

"Your Bloody Mary beats all drinks out there, Iruka," commented Konohamaru minutes after the two had left. "And it works miracles as well." The wounds visible on his right arm sizzled and closed up as some of the crimson liquid trailed down the corners of his lips and Iruka smirked, holding up a glass of that liquid as well as both their eyes glowed crimson red.

"Better than drinking Moegi's blood again, don't you think so, Konohamaru?" asked Iruka as both himself and Konohamaru clinked their glasses together. "That girl may be a vampire as well, but her blood isn't endless."

Konohamaru smirked as both their eyes glowed crimson-red once more.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Damn, what's with these demons?!" cried Ino as she ducked beneath a demon's attack and sent a flurry of arrows at them with no effect.

The moment that the group of them had left the city and to the place where they had made camp, they were immediately attacked by a group of demons and monsters. It seems as if no matter what weapons that they used on the demons, they can't seem to die.

Kiba was panting as he stood on shaky legs, looking at the several demons before him. He was in the worst state out of all his friends as he specialises in close combat, not long-ranged combat like most of his friends or defensive techniques like Chouji or Shino.

"Kiba! Look out!" Sakura screamed as she saw three demons bearing down on the teen, claws outstretched.

Mere moments before the demons can reach him, they were immediately obliterated with a flash of bright light and Kiba blinked in confusion. "W-What?"

"Looks like we've made it in time," said a voice and everyone present turned to see two girls standing atop the trees behind them only to recognise the two as the two girls whom they had met back at the bar. Haku was holding a crossbow in her hands, along with Hinata, though the latter's hands were glowing with a pale blue light.

"How the heck did they do that?!" asked Lee in astonishment, blinking at them. For once, he wasn't shouting something about 'flames of youth'. "No matter what we do, we couldn't seem to kill them."

The demons were bearing down on them again and Haku narrowed her eyes before letting loose a number of arrows imbued with ice power imbued in it and the demons were immediately obliterated. "Use your magic!" Haku shouted to them before shooting down another demon.

"Huh?"

"You can't defeat Class B demons with your weapons alone! Use your magic!"

"We aren't arch mages!" shouted Tenten. "We can't use any!"

Hinata gritted her teeth together with fury and Haku groaned. "What a fine time to not use any magic!" she groaned. _'Sora, you owe me one for this! I don't know why you're doing this, but you better have a good reason!'_

Haku positioned her crossbow so that the tip of the arrow was pointing towards the rest of the demons and light was starting to surround the arrow before Haku let her arrow fly, obliterating the rest of the obstacles in her path before it struck the demons, obliterating them instantly.

Silence fell upon them for a few moments as Hinata and Haku dropped down to the ground and checked the Eve group over to ensure that they aren't badly hurt before nodding, satisfied. "Things in this country are getting a lot stranger," said Haku. "Monsters and demons have been coming out more during the daytime and this is something that is not possible unless they're at least at Class A rank. Also, there are rumours that the Church had been conducting some bizarre experiments and at the same time, the movements of the monsters have changed."

"Wait a minute!" interrupted Sakura. "Are you saying that it's the Church that's causing this?! That's impossible!"

Hinata gave a light shrug of her shoulders. "Think what you wish," she said. "I'd advise you to brush up on your weapon skills if you wished to live long. At least learn some magic. You won't last long out here with skills like that."

"I'll leave them to you," said Haku, turning towards Shikamaru and the boy nodded before both girls left towards the forest.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Eden Garden (vampires' village):_

"Welcome back, Haku," said Temari, the Wind Caster as she was heading towards the entrance of the village just as Haku was entering the village.

"Hey Temari," greeted Haku. "Is Sora about?"

"Yeah. She's at the Waterfall Valley," said Temari before leaving the village and the entrance closed up behind her.

Haku 'hmmed' before making her way to the back of the village after a twenty minute walk to see the Waterfall Valley as the vampires had named it – especially since this part of the village had beautiful waterfalls and a pool surrounding it, with several boulders and rocks around the edges of the pool.

Sora was sitting atop one of the boulders, soaking her bare feet into the pool, watching the waterfall. Haku knew that the Princess had already sensed her presence some time ago, but just didn't say anything.

"I've done what you've told me to do," said Haku as she stood beside Sora, watching the waterfall as well.

"Thanks, Haku."

Haku sighed and turned towards Sora. "Don't worry about it. You're the Princess, after all. We're all duty bound to protect you and the Crown Prince. But still...why are you helping them?" Haku wanted to know. "They're humans. You know this."

"I know," said Sora. "I'll explain everything to you once the time comes. Not now. For now, I just want you guys to trust me."

"We'll always trust you, Sora, you know this," said Haku gently. "But the others are getting curious though. It's not every day that you order us to protect a group of humans from harm – from both the wild monsters and demons and...the Church themselves."

Sora turned towards Haku at the mention of the Church. "About the Church...how is it?"

Haku sighed. "Hinata found out some things by communicating with the wind. Around here, you, Hinata and Temari are the only ones who can do that since you uses the wind. The Grand Cardinal and his lackeys are planning something. I don't know what. And they're also experimenting on runes as well as the elemental gems. And as far as I know, they're looking for two of the remaining elemental gems out there – though they do not know that it's the final two since the rest are in our possession. The Twilight and the Fire elemental gems. Those are the gems belonging to Itachi-taichou – captain of the Prince's bodyguard group – the Akatsuki – and the fire gem belonged to Sasuke, isn't it?"

Sora nodded. "You forgot the Water and the Death elementals that Yugito had in her possession." She then sighed. "Though we do not need to worry about her. She won't do anything against the vampires. But against the humans...I don't even want to think about it."

"About the humans..." Haku looked at her best friend. "Sora, I know that you just wanted to keep their leader safe. But you know this as well – you know our laws. The involvement of a vampire, especially a _pureblood _vampire and a human is a definite big no-no."

"I know. But if he is who I suspected to be, we won't have that problem," said Sora, closing her eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"Never mind. About the Church..."

"Yeah," said Haku. She then sighed. "They're preparing for war. A war between the vampires and the humans. It'll be a repeat of the Great War from a thousand years ago if we aren't careful."


	4. War of Darkness

**Chapter Four: War of Darkness**

_AG 380. Third year of Eurien. The Eriel Church officially declared war against the vampires and all of Eriel was put under martial law with several able-bodied young men being drafted as soldiers. Most of the fighters from the Church were placed into squads and sent against the vampires and their monster summons._

_The Eve Children, along with a member from one of the Church's top fighting squads – Sai – were sent to Leaf City. The war against the vampires had already lasted for over four months and the people – the civilians, especially – were getting frustrated. Some of them had doubts about the Grand Cardinal's sanity especially since the vampires had never done anything to them and believed that if left in peace, the vampires would leave them alone._

_The war started out with the vampires holding back on them, but after finding out that several of the arch mages had been borrowing the power of the fire elemental gem – a gem which rightfully belonged to the vampires – the vampires got pissed and the Prince of the vampires ordered a full assault on the soldiers who had attacked them._

_Soldier after soldier fell and the hospitals as well as the emergency medic camps were all full with patients who required urgent medic attention. The Eve Children over at Leaf City had been lucky so far since none of the vampires that they had faced were among the high ranking ones and had managed to beat them back so far._

_But it soon won't be long before the vampires retaliated with all of their power and wipe the humans from the face of the earth..._

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Leaf City:_

Shikamaru winced as Ino bandaged his arm carefully and the blonde scowled at him. "Keep still!" she scolded before wrapping the last of the bindings and Shikamaru mumbled something under his breath.

"The war is getting out of control," muttered Shikamaru, rubbing a hand across his eyes. "Have you seen the hospital lately or even the streets? The injured and the dead are everywhere! There aren't even enough room for burial plots now."

Ino sighed and nodded. "I know," she said. "But it's the Grand Cardinal's decision and I seriously do not know what the hell he's smoking! The vampires have been leaving us alone all these years and since it is the Church who had attacked first, they had every right to retaliate!"

"I haven't seen Sora among them yet..." mumbled Shikamaru. "Or any of the higher ranked vampires. Several villages had already been wiped out because of all the fighting among the vampires and the Church."

Ino looked carefully at her childhood friend and sighed. "Shika, just follow your heart," she said. "Follow what it tells you to do. You like Sora, don't you? I can tell."

"You can't be serious. You know that the involvement of a human and a vampire is a definite big no-no."

Ino sighed. "Seriously, Shika. If I'm speaking in the position as a medic from the Church, then yes, I would advise against you seeing Sora. But as a friend, I'm all for you following your heart. For me, I think that one of the reasons why Sora or any of the high ranking vampires hadn't attacked Leaf City yet is because you're here."

"OH! SHIKAMARU-SAN HAD TAKEN A STEP FORWARDS BY SECURING A WIFE BEFORE MYSELF!!" A thunderous voice sounded right behind Ino and Shikamaru just then, nearly causing them to fall off the railings of the balcony of their inn room and both winced before turning around to see Rock Lee right behind them and the rest rubbing their ears whilst sitting around on the floor or the beds in their inn room.

"Shut up, Lee! You're loud!" complained Ino, rubbing her ears.

"SHIKAMARU-SAN! TELL US WHO IS IT!! WHO IS THIS YOUTHFUL FLOWER WHO HAD CAPTURED YOUR ATTENTION?!"

Tenten's eyes twitched dangerously as she reached towards her dagger pouch. "Sakura. Requesting permission to render Lee unconscious."

Sakura sighed. "Granted."

SMACK! BISH! POW!

The rest of the night was then spent in silence.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Eden Garden; Flower Garden:_

It was the dead of night and Deidara, the Prince of the vampire society was currently leaning against one of the pine trees in the flower garden of Eden Garden, watching the moon and stars with his arms crossed over his chest. He was dressed in a plain black tee beneath a sky-blue and white short-sleeved collared shirt with black pants and black combat boots with black fingerless gloves on his hands and two nodachis were strapped crosswise over his back.

Currently, three members of his Akatsuki team – the team usually dispatched after traitors and deserters to Eden Garden as well as one of the elite forces in Eden Garden – Sasori, Kisame as well as the captain of Akatsuki – Uchiha Itachi was present as well.

"Sou ka..." Deidara sighed. "So the humans really had the fire gem. Oh well. At least we have the twilight elemental gem in our hands."

Sasori nodded. "The Princess didn't say anything, but I'm sure that she's worried as well. I don't understand why, but she had specifically stated that none of the higher ranked vampires are to attack Leaf City as long as they hadn't attacked us first."

Kisame sighed. "I guess that it has to do with that human boy again. What's his name again? Nara Shikamaru or something. Leader of one of the Eriel Church's frontal assault teams."

Itachi looked at Deidara. "You don't look happy," he commented and Deidara growled.

"Damn right, I don't!" he growled. "I may be Crown Prince, but Sora's still the Princess and as Princess, she's first in line for the throne after I've ascended as the Lord and no matter what the circumstances are, a pureblood vampire, especially the Princess of the royal clan of vampire society getting involved with a human is _strictly forbidden _and frowned upon and it's a definite big no-no!"

Itachi sighed. "I'm sure that the Princess had her reasons. She has never done anything without reason before, even if she's kept it from us."

Deidara groaned and sighed. "For her sake, I hope you're right. She knows our laws and she knows what she's getting herself into."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_The war was getting worst by the day and out of pure fury and anger, the Lord of Eden Garden himself sent out two of his top vampires – Momochi Zabuza and Shisei Haku – to take down one of the Church's top frontal assault warriors WITHOUT killing any of the lower ranked soldiers with said fighter._

_Sabaku no Temari, one of the vampires with the Princess's team was sent out to keep an eye on those two under the Princess's request since Shisei Haku was a member of the Princess's team and Zabuza was one of the guards in charge of guarding Eden Garden and was also known as a merciless killer._

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Haku sighed, cleaning her crossbow of blood as she eyed the bloody bodies littering the ground and eyeing the headless body of the warrior that they were sent to take out and sighed to herself, watching Zabuza. She made eye contact with Temari and both sighed.

Sora isn't going to be pleased.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Eden Garden; Flower Garden:_

"Sou ka..." sighed Sora as she sat on the stone railings separating Eden Garden from the flower garden as the sandy blonde vampire reported to her what she knew. "Temari. Tell me. Was anyone hurt?"

"None," said Temari, shaking her head. "None were hurt, but then again...it is a little difficult for them to be hurt when ALL of them are DEAD!"

Sora sighed before turning a glare onto Zabuza who was standing a little way away from her with Haku looking extremely apologetic standing at the entrance of the flower garden, ensuring that no one will get in. "Zabuza. I've repeatedly instructed you to _not _harm any of the humans. And you still choose to _disobey _my orders."

Zabuza smirked. "The first rule of a vampire that serves the royal family of Eden Garden is to slay every potential assailant. And furthermore, I don't know why you cared so much about the humans anyway. They're always trying to kill us, for Iris's (1) sake!"

"I've never heard of such a ludicrous rule..." muttered Sora and from beside her, Temari scowled at Zabuza.

"_Zabuza! _You are being incredibly rude and insolent to the Princess. If His Highness the Prince or the Lord and Lady hears about it..."

"It doesn't matter, Temari," said Sora, waving her concerns away. "While most of the vampires here are nice like Haku and Temari, there are always the selective few like Zabuza...who for lack of a better word..._pigheaded."_

Zabuza snorted. "Hmph. It doesn't matter to me. I just want to get stronger and if killing humans will get me the strength that I want, I'll gladly do it."

Sora stared at him for a few moments. Her brother had warned her about Zabuza once and she knew him inside-out especially since Haku, who usually accompanied Zabuza on his missions is one of her best friends. Sora then sighed. "Very well. Then this will be your next mission. I want you to go to the Eriel Church's headquarters in Oto City and bring me the fire elemental gem. We have recent news that the gem is over at the headquarters in Oto City and we can't let the humans have it. There will be many soldiers guarding the gem for obvious reasons, but _do not _kill them or I might just let my brother have his way and kill you instead. We do not need more humans after our blood and more reasons for the humans to kill us. Haku, I want you to go with him. You'll probably be able to keep him in line. Now go!"

Haku nodded before both herself and Zabuza disappeared in a flurry of mist and ice. Temari spoke up after a long while. "Your Highness, are you sure about this? Is it wise to send Zabuza and Haku there? Last that we checked, that place is simply _crawling _with soldiers and guards as well as arch mages."

"I know," said Sora. "And Temari, what have I told you about formalities when we're alone? It's alright when we're in public, but when we're among friends..."

"Your Highness..."

"Temari. You may be from one of the noble clans, but along with Sasuke, Hinata, Neji, Haku and your brothers...we are childhood friends."

"Sora..."

"That prophecy...is about to come true," said Sora, looking up into the stars. "If what I've suspected about Nara Shikamaru is right. The time is here."

**

* * *

**Haku sighed as she dropped down on one of the ice pillars that she had created the moment that Zabuza had begun his assault and noticed that Zabuza seemed to be _obeying _the Princess's orders now. The unconscious bodies of the Church's people were all over the place and Haku looked at the fire elemental gem in her hand before slipping it into her pouch.

Zabuza had served as a distraction whilst she snuck into the Church and got the gem, knocking out about twenty researchers at the same time and when she had gotten out from the Church, she had froze the ground into ice and noticed that with Zabuza swinging his gigantic sword around, very few soldiers could get close to him.

The leader of their group, a silver-haired young man with glasses on was gaping at the sight. "Change of plans..." he muttered. "Hey. You in that dark outfit and those bandages...would you like to join us? I'm sure that the Grand Cardinal and the General himself would like to have you...even if you're a vampire."

"You have to be kidding," grunted Zabuza, placing his sword back on his back. "I will never even think about serving another in this life. The Demon of the Mist serves no other but _one! _And that's the Princess herself!"


	5. Traitor

**Chapter Five: Traitor**

"They're coming in close to Leaf City?" echoed Shikamaru.

Shino and Tenten who had just both given him this information nodded. "They're angry," said Tenten. "All along, they had left Leaf City alone, but with what the Grand Cardinal had done and the news that he's been in possession of the fire elemental gem had enraged the vampires. I don't know what they want with that gem, but the knowledge that the Grand Cardinal had that gem in possession had made them angry."

"Our scouts have sent news that the vampires are moving in close towards Leaf City," said Shino. "There's only a few of them, but those few are some of the more powerful ones among the vampires."

Shikamaru sighed as he looked at the map spread onto the table. "How much longer till they get here?" he asked.

Tenten snorted. "Expect them to be here tonight. All attempts to delay them have failed…miserably."

"What should we do?"

Shikamaru glanced at the map where several coloured pins were dotted here and there. He then sighed. "We fight," he said.

**

* * *

**Lightning was flashing across the sky every now and then and thunder roared threateningly as the Eve Children as well as Sai stood in the forest, at least five miles away from Leaf City to keep the damage to the city minimal, awaiting the arrival of the vampires.

All attempts to stop them had failed and Shikamaru knew then that these vampires are not the ones that they were usually fighting now. Those were the top class vampires – the most powerful ones among the vampire society who had the powers of the elements at their disposal.

Rain was starting to fall lightly and Shikamaru swallowed nervously as even his senses started to pick up the faint hint of the presences of the vampires. There was a whirl of dark aura just then and when the presence of the dark aura faded away, three vampires stood there.

Kiba swallowed nervously. He was not stupid. Even he could tell that these vampires are way out of their league. Throughout all these, no one noticed Sai's eyes widening a slight fraction.

"Who are you?" asked Shikamaru, struggling to keep his voice steady.

The ebony haired vampire smirked slightly, his eyes flashing red. "We're the vampires who take care of traitors from Eden Garden – the Akatsuki."

Sai's eyes widened in horror. _'Akatsuki?! The Crown Prince's group?!'_

"I'm the captain of the Akatsuki, Uchiha Itachi. These two are my comrades – Akasuna no Sasori and Hoshigaki Kisame." Itachi then turned his gaze onto Sai and narrowed his eyes dangerously. "Sai."

Every human present turned towards the shaking dark-haired teen who was looking at the three vampires before him as if Death had just came for him. Sai then mumbled, not bringing his eyes to meet Itachi's. "Itachi-sama…"

"'-sama'?" echoed Kiba.

Kisame then disappeared from his spot before appearing again before Sai, his sword clashing with Kiba's. Kisame snarled at the boy. "Get out of my way, _human. _My business here is not with you."

"I don't think so!" grunted Kiba as he managed to push Kisame back with much difficulty – the vampire's strength is crazy! "Sai is my comrade and my friend and I will never abandon him!"

Sasori gave a barking laugh. "Comrade? Hah! 'Comrade' doesn't exist in the dictionary of Sai the Illusionist. Also known as the Betrayer." Sasori's eyes hardened. "Traitor of the highest order to Eden Garden and the royal clan of vampire society especially since it was the Princess who had taken you – a lowly vampire in society – into Eden Garden itself. How dare you betray her and Eden Garden?"

"Betray?" Ino turned towards the shaking Sai. "Sai, what are they talking about? Do you know them?"

"You never wondered why Sai addressed Itachi with the –sama suffix, do you?" questioned Kisame. "That is because Itachi is a pureblood vampire – heir to one of the four noble houses in vampire society. A lowly vampire that isn't even of any vampire clan had to show his superiors respect."

"Kisame," interrupted Itachi. "You know that I hate it when we have to pull rank."

"Right," mumbled Kisame. "My apologies."

Itachi nodded before turning towards Sai. "I don't know what's so special about you that the Crown Prince himself ordered us three – the top cards of the Akatsuki – to take you out personally after we've found out your location, _traitor." _Sai flinched. "Sai, also known as the Illusionist. Traitor of the highest order in vampire society since you betrayed the royal clan of the vampire society directly after the kindness that the Princess shows you. Under section sixteen and clause ninety-seven, you are hereby sentenced to death by baptism of fire!"

Itachi's eyes bled into red, but before he could use whatever magic that he had at his disposal, dark lightning struck the area in between the vampires and the humans and everyone present leapt back.

"Shikamaru, heads up!" yelled Chouji.

"Dark lightning?" muttered Itachi before he smirked. "I see…"

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes dangerously as his senses picked up an unnaturally strong aura. So strong that it's causing his hairs to stand on end. He only had ever felt this way once before – when Sora was forced to reveal her vampire status. But still, back then, Sora had never directed her aura and killing intent onto him.

"Step back," ordered Shikamaru.

"Shika?"

"Their leader is here."

There was another bolt of lightning and when it cleared away, it revealed two blondes standing together in the clearing. One, Shikamaru and the others were quite familiar with. But the other, they don't recognise.

Shikamaru looked at the female blonde with a pained expression in his eyes. _'Sora…?'_

Sora looked at Shikamaru with an unreadable expression in her eyes before turning towards the three from Akatsuki. "Fall back."

"Your Highnesses!" gasped Kisame. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to take the traitor out myself," said the older male blonde who seemed to be the Prince and the head of the Akatsuki. "Eden Garden doesn't pardon any traitors…" He drew his blade out. "Especially to those who are helping with the experimentation of runes and humans!" Sai flinched as Deidara turned a glare onto him. "Get ready to die, Sai!"

"My god…" muttered Tenten, her eyes wide. "Of all the vampires in the world…it has to be _them?"_

"Who are they, Tenten?" asked Sakura.

"They're two of the most feared vampires in vampire society that even the Church knew of and feared," said Tenten. "The Prince of Darkness, the Dark Caster – Namikaze Deidara – and leader of the most feared vampires of Eden Garden, the Princess of vampire society – Namikaze Sora of the Whirlwind Tempest (Senpuu Arashi)."

An arrow flew out of nowhere just then and Sasori intercepted the arrows by slicing them in half and growling at the person responsible who turned out to be Ino. "How dare you attack the Prince and the Princess?!"

"Enough," ordered Deidara. "I shall do it."

It all happened in a split instant. Deidara disappeared from his spot before appearing in front of Sai and before anyone could blink, there was the splatter of blood as Deidara drove his blade through Sai's back and Sai gurgled in shock before falling over. As Deidara reached to deliver the finishing blow, his blade was stopped –to the shock of everyone present- Sora herself.

"Sai!" screamed Ino as she knelt by the dying teen. All the humans present knelt by Sai. Shikamaru who was kneeling next to Sakura and Ino as they tried to save the boy was looking at Sora whose back was facing him.

'_Sora…'_

"What is the meaning of this, Sora?" asked her brother.

Sora shook her head. "There is no need to dirty our hands killing him, nii-sama. We've obtained our objective here. Besides, he won't live long with the amount of blood that he's losing. He's not a pureblood like us and his regenerative powers aren't powerful enough to save his life. Let's go."

Brother and sister stared at each other for a time before Deidara nodded and sheathing his sword. "I understand. Fall back."

All vampires present nodded before they disappeared in a whirl of smoke and wind. The Prince disappeared in a bolt of dark lightning and Sora turned her head slightly to look at Sai who was reaching out with a bloodstained hand towards Sora.

"Forgive…me…for my…betrayal… Princess…"

Sora looked at Sai. "It's not up to me to decide, Sai," she said. "You know this. You know our laws. Especially the pureblood laws. What you did is considered treason and betrayal of the highest order as it concerns the royal clan of vampire society itself."

As she turned to leave, Shikamaru called out to her.

"Sora!"

Sora didn't turn back.

"Take care of him, Shika. I got a feeling that he…as well as the rest of you, will be needed soon."

She then disappeared in a whirl of wind.


	6. Story of the Traitor

**Chapter Six: Story of the Traitor**

The rain was starting to fall lightly and Shikamaru and the others had managed to get Sai back to camp and Sakura and Ino had both tended to Sai's injuries as best as they could. But even still, the blood was still seeping through the bandages and he was currently running a light fever.

Shikamaru and the others had left the tent where Sai was currently in, the guy being tended to by both Sakura and Ino. Currently though, the two girls were arguing with Sai about a certain vampire with both a last and a first name by the name of Namikaze Sora.

"But she let you die!" argued Sakura.

Sai shook his head slowly since any rash movements will aggravate his injuries. "No, she didn't!" he said. "The Prince was going to deliver the finishing blow. The Princess stopped that. She's risking a lot just to save me – a nobody and a traitor to vampire society. I owe the Princess everything I have. She saved my life. She brought me to Eden Garden which was once my home. I can never bring myself to hurt her."

Both girls were silent.

"Sai..." muttered Sakura.

Sai looked at Sakura. "I need to see Shikamaru, Sakura," he said, coughing harshly. "He...along with the rest of you needs to know...the reason why I betrayed them."

**

* * *

**Shikamaru was currently standing under a great oak tree with Kiba and Chouji – the leaves of the tree shielding them from the rain. All three were silent with the events that had just transpired when Sakura came up to them, her clothes a little wet from the rain.

"He wants to see you, Shika," said Sakura breathlessly and Shikamaru nodded. "Along with every one of us."

The lazy genius then strode across the grounds before entering the tent where Sai was in before getting in a kneeling position by him. Everyone was already in the already cramped tent by then. "Sai."

Sai grinned weakly at him as he struggled to sit up and Ino helped him up by propping some pillows behind his back. "I guess...before I die...I want someone to know my life story. Why I betrayed Eden Garden and my own kind." Everyone was silent by this point. "I was found by the Princess herself – the Whirlwind Tempest as she more commonly known by – Namikaze Sora. That was nearly ten years ago. I do not have any memory of my life before that and the Princess found out that I'm a vampire as well. She's a pureblood and one of the members of the vampire society's oldest pureblood clan and also the royal clan of Eden Garden. She has powers that most purebloods could only dream of. Sora – the Princess – took me with her to Eden Garden – the vampires' village. She saved my life."

Tenten nodded slowly, understanding things now. "That's why you couldn't bring yourself to attack or even hurt her?"

"Yeah. I'm bound to her by a spirit bond. Vampires' bonds are different in the way that if a vampire who isn't a pureblood is saved by someone – vampire or a human – we can't hurt or attack them even if we want to. The spirit bond will prevent us from doing so. And then, when Sora first brought me to Eden Garden, she started training me to use my power. She said that I have a strong power, but if I don't train to control it properly, it could spell disaster. But then...as the years goes by and I have control over my powers, I then met the Princess's friends – vampires from the other pureblood clans of Eden Garden – the Sabaku, the Uchiha, the Hyuuga and the Sarutobi – those four clans are the Four Noble Houses of Eden Garden, just one power below the royal clan – the Namikaze House. The Four Noble Houses protected the members of the royal clan and the clan heads – the parents of the Princess's friends – were the advisors and the childhood friends of the Lord – the king of the vampires. Sora's friends were from the Four Noble Houses of Eden Garden and those four clans were pureblood clans. I started to envy them as they have powers that I could only dream of. Pureblood vampires are different from most vampires as there were hardly any of them left now and they have powers that we could only dream of. That's...why I left. And then...I met Danzo. He invited me to join the Eriel Church and I believed his words and I did."

"For such a reason...!"

Sai laughed bitterly. "I know," he said. "I was stupid. For five years, I've been running from the Akatsuki, afraid of them finding me and killing me. I'm not naive enough to think that the Prince will let me off, even if the Princess will. What I did is considered high treason, especially since it concerns the royal family."

"The Akatsuki..." muttered Kiba. "What are they?"

"They're the elite fighting force of the Crown Prince," answered Sai. "They're also the ones who hunt down and kill all traitors of Eden Garden. The Princess had an elite fighting group as well, but her group is responsible for protecting Eden Garden." Sai's eyes then widened a slight fraction, looking towards the flap of the tent.

"What is it?"

"Yugito..." muttered Sai. "She's here. The Death Caster of Eden Garden."

Shikamaru scowled. "Chouji, Kiba, Tenten, with me. Sakura, Ino and Lee, you stay here."

Those mentioned nodded, but Sai tried to stop Shikamaru. "No!" Sai nearly cried out. "You don't stand a chance against Yugito! She's a former member of the Princess's group before the elementals were stolen from us!"

"I know," said Shikamaru grimly. "But I can't let her hurt you. Vampire or not, you're still my friend, Sai."

**

* * *

**A sudden flash of lightning was the only warning that Shikamaru had before Nii Yugito appeared before them, emanating an aura of danger. As a warrior, and one with incredible senses, Shikamaru could sense right away just how powerful this vampire is. This vampire is truly one of the top vampires in Eden Garden.

"You're...Yugito, aren't you?" said Shikamaru cautiously.

Yugito looked at Shikamaru. "You're Sora's Diviner, aren't you?"

"That word again?! What the hell is a Diviner?!"

Yugito snorted. "Hmph. You really don't know, do you? Oh well. Never mind. I'll make you _mine!"_

Aura of darkness began surrounding Yugito's hand before she blasted it straight at Shikamaru. But that attack never hit it's intended target, as...

"Shikamaru, watch out!"

And Shikamaru was tackled to the ground by his best friend, but the attack that was meant for Shikamaru hit Chouji instead.

"_Chouji!"_

Yugito cursed. "Damn! I hit the wrong target!"

"Damn you!" Kiba yelled at Yugito as Shikamaru and Tenten fussed over Chouji. "What did you do to Chouji?!"

"You'd better worry about that friend of yours instead," said Yugito. "He'll die in a few days if he don't get treated soon." And she disappeared.

Kiba groaned. "Oh great. Now we have TWO injured people?!"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Ino wringed the cloth of water before placing it atop Chouji's forehead, cooling down his temperature. In a corner of the tent, Shikamaru was deep in discussion with Shino. "Do you think that we should bring them to the Church?" asked Shino. "We don't have the medicine needed to treat them."

"I know. But it's too dangerous...especially for Sai," said Shikamaru, biting on his lower lip in nervousness. "I just got a feeling that it's better if we don't bring them to the Church, especially since we're in the midst of a war. We don't have enough healers for all the injured as it is."

"Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru and Shino looked up at Ino's voice. The blonde looked worried and gave Shikamaru a look. "Can you go and find some medicinal herbs?" she asked. "We're running low on medicine and the least that I can do for Chouji is to ease his pain and lower his fever until we can get him to a doctor."

Shikamaru nodded before pulling on his raincoat and stepping out of the tent and into the rain.

**

* * *

**As Shikamaru entered the field not too far away from their camp where Ino and Sakura always goes to find their medicinal herbs, he spotted a lone figure dressed in a hooded dark raincoat with the hood up seated on the stile which surrounded the field to prevent wild animals from entering.

That figure lowered the hood and Shikamaru gasped as he recognised her. The teen jumped down from the stile and fixed Shikamaru with an unreadable look as he approached her before stopping.

"...Sora."

Sora reached into her pocket and pulled put a cream coloured pouch with a red string tied around the neck before handing it to Shikamaru who took it. "Take it," she said. "There are herbs in there. Give Sai those. That can save him. Those are Draconite Herbs. Herbs with amazing healing power only found in the lands of the vampires. That's the only thing that can save a vampire now. It has no effect on humans."

"Why are you doing this?" asked Shikamaru.

"I saved his life," said Sora. "There's no way that I'm going to just let him die like that. I know my brother's power better than anyone else. He is powerful. I can talk to my father and allow the charges against Sai be dropped and stop the hunts by the Akatsuki. But he will no longer be welcomed back into Eden Garden. Sai knew this too. He knew our laws. Not even I can do anything to allow him entry back into Eden Garden." She then turned away. "Look after him, Shika."

"That's not what I meant!" said Shikamaru, grabbing Sora by the wrist before she can leave. "Why are you doing this to yourself?"

"I have no idea what you meant," said Sora stubbornly.

"You know perfectly well what I mean!" snapped Shikamaru, spinning her around by the shoulder so that the blonde was facing Shikamaru. "Why are you ignoring your own feelings like this?! You know that I don't care that you're not human."

"A human and a vampire can never be together, Shika," said Sora stubbornly. "You know this! A vampire lives on for centuries. All humans die earlier than vampires. I don't want to face that!"

"Then I'll become a vampire too!" said Shikamaru stubbornly.

Sora stared at Shikamaru as if he had suddenly grown two new heads. "The transformation of a human into a vampire is a forbidden art," said Sora. "Unlike what the Church thinks, a human doesn't become a vampire because a vampire drinks their blood. There is a special procedure to follow. And it's a forbidden art in Eden Garden – a taboo – unless the lord of Eden Garden wills and allows it. And unlike what the Church thinks, vampires don't _need_ blood to survive. We only need it to heal any injuries that we have or to increase our power, but even then, we only take the blood of other vampires."

"I've told you before, I don't care!" said Shikamaru stubbornly. "If I have to go out there and find a rogue vampire to become one as well, I'll do it if it means I can be together with you!"

Sora stared at Shikamaru for a moment before sighing. "Do you understand what it meant to be a vampire?"

"Huh?"

"Despite what humans think, Shika, we feel pain too. We know what it's like to suffer. Since the beginning of time, vampires have been hunted and feared by humans. They hated our kind. That's why Eden Garden was established and all vampires hid in there. That's our home and the only place where we can feel safe."

"Are humans...really that terrible to you?"

"I don't know," said Sora. "Before I met you, all humans that I met were terrible at heart and just as evil. I believe that there are both good and evil in this world. It's the same with humans...and it's the same with vampires."

"Sora..."

"You're always the same, aren't you? You're always acting as the level headed leader for everyone else because of the war. In autumn, everything changes. But...you don't have to hurry that quickly." Sora turned towards Shikamaru. "I'm sure that everyone thinks the same too."

"I..."

"Give some of your burden to them," said Sora understandingly. "You can't carry everything on your shoulders. They're your friends. Let them in. Let them help you."

"Sora..."

"Take care of Sai for me."

Then she was gone.


	7. Author's Note

**Author's Note:**

Right, sorry about this, but this isn't a chapter. I was reading through this story in order to give me some ideas, and I'm sorry to say that I found that the story plot doesn't flow very smoothly. I'll be rewriting this story, and the rewritten version will hopefully be up in a week or so. The title will be _Black Blood: Rewritten._

The pairing will still be Shikamaru/FemNaru, but I'll be changing the universal setting a little. If any of you is kind enough to give me some new ideas regarding this vampire fic, it'll be very much appreciated, and I'll be sure to credit you.

-Midnightz StarZz


End file.
